"Over the last 10 years, Premier League clubs have invested over £4bn in transfer fees to bring the best playing talent to the league," Dan Jones, a partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said.

"Testament to their success is the strength of the league and its commercial appeal, shown by the recently announced broadcast deal. With spending this summer set to be at a similar level to that of 2011, significant investment in playing talent, both in terms of player transfer fees as well as wages, looks set to continue in both the January and summer transfer windows."